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Halloween Jakob

Analysis by Adonyx
Halloween Jakob - Devoted Monster

5

Obtainable as a 5 only

Hero Stats

Max Avg Total Stats at Lvl 40
165
HP 42
ATK 35
SPD 23
DEF 33
RES 32

Stat Variations

Level 1 Stat Variation
5★
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
Low 19 8 5 8 7
Middle 20 9 6 9 8
High 21 10 7 10 9

Level 40 Stat Variations
5★
HP ATK SPD DEF RES
Low 38 32 20 30 29
Middle 42 35 23 33 32
High 45 38 26 36 35

IV Sets

Key stats worth increasing through nature if possible.
Complementary stats that matter, but not to the point of picking them over key stats for nature increase.
Relatively worthless stat that can safely be decreased through nature.
HPATKSPDDEFRES

Boons

  • +ATK: This is easily Jakob’s best boon. It improves everything he can do, and gives a massive boost to his Player Phase build.

  • +DEF: Jakob is quite a tanky character, and a +DEF boon will manage to make him even tankier.

  • +RES: A +RES boon will make Jakob tankier just like a +DEF boon will, but with the added bonus of increasing the chance of landing Ploys.

Neutral

  • HP: As a tank, Jakob wants to avoid taking a penalty to his bulk if possible; while HP is a superbane, it still isn’t quite as bad of a bane as DEF or RES due to Jakob’s low speed causing him to get doubled frequently.

Banes

  • -SPD: Jakob’s Speed is atrocious, making it a clear dump stat. Dumping Speed has no effect on Jakob’s effectiveness due to him having access to exclusive armored unit skills like Bold Fighter.

Skill Sets

Tricky Trickery (Mixed Phase)

Build by
Recommended
Slaying Bow+ (+Def) A Close Counter
Swap B Bold Fighter 3
Ignis C Def Ploy 3
IVsSQuick Riposte 3

Show Explanation/Analysis
  • Preferred IVs: +ATK / -SPD
  • Weapon: Slaying Bow+ (+Def) or (+Res)
  • Assist:Swap
  • Special: Ignis / Glimmer / Moonbow
  • Passive A: Close Counter / Atk/Def Bond / Atk/Res Bond
  • Passive B: Bold Fighter
  • Passive C: Def Ploy / Armor March / Varies with team
  • Sacred Seal: Quick Riposte

For a more balanced approach, this build offers Jakob the ability to be devastatingly powerful on both phases. The combination of Bold Fighter and Quick Riposte, exclusive to armored units, allows them to guarantee doubles on both phases regardless of Speed.

Slaying Bow reduces the cooldown on Ignis to 3, allowing Jakob to activate it on his second attack on either phase. The choice of refine is mostly up to preference; +Def will result in better physical bulk and improved Ignis damage, while +Res will result in better magical bulk and improved Ploy capabilities.

Glimmer or Moonbow are good alternative options to Ignis if favoring consistent damage output over big bursts of damage. Although they will unfortunately result in the increased Special charges from Bold Fighter being wasted, running Glimmer or Moonbow will allow Jakob to retaliate with a Special activation twice when initiated on.

Close Counter is very useful to maximize Jakob’s ability to deal with any and all enemies; his strong mixed bulk allows him to easily take on melee threats as well as ranged. Alternatively, both Atk/Def Bond and Atk/Res Bond can be useful by improving his stats on both phases. The choice between the two Bond skills is up to also up to preference, with the same reasoning as the choice of refine on the Slaying Bow.

The Reaper (Offensive Nuke)

Build by
Recommended
Brave Bow+ A Death Blow 4
Alternate: Death Blow 3
Swap B Bold Fighter 3
Ignis C Def Ploy 3
IVsSAttack +3

Show Explanation/Analysis
  • Preferred IVs: +ATK / -SPD
  • Weapon: Brave Bow+ / Firesweep Bow+
  • Assist: Swap
  • Special: Ignis / Bonfire / Aether / Moonbow
  • Passive A: Death Blow / Sturdy Blow
  • Passive B: Bold Fighter
  • Passive C: Def Ploy / Armor March / Varies with Team
  • Sacred Seal: Attack +3 / Quickened Pulse / Def Ploy / Armored Boots

This is the set that turns Halloween Jakob into a complete monster, no pun intended. Thanks to the power of Bold Fighter, Jakob has guaranteed access to quad strikes whenever he attacks. Combine this with his high Attack and the increased Special charge, and the result is a build that very few units will be able to survive.

Brave Bow is the weapon of choice for maximum damage, due to the guaranteed quad strike granting massive damage output on top of Special activations. However, Firesweep Bow is an acceptable option to negate any chance of Jakob dying should the enemy manage to survive the first two attacks.

Ignis is standard for this set; it will activate on Jakob’s third attack, and is incredibly hard to survive due to the massive damage output it entails. Bonfire is a strong alternative option, particularly if paired with the Quickened Pulse seal and Brave Bow for an instant Bonfire activation on the second hit. Bonfire has the additional benefit of allowing Jakob to break through enemies with Guard. Aether is generally an inferior option to Ignis and Bonfire, but the added healing can help Jakob sustain if he’s fighting a series of particularly tanky enemies. Moonbow will allow Jakob to activate his Special every other attack; while this is devastatingly strong, it does lack the superior burst capabilities of Ignis or Bonfire.

Death Blow is better than Sturdy Blow for raw damage output, but Sturdy Blow helps increase Jakob’s tankiness as he attacks. The damage loss isn’t particularly extreme, as Ignis or Bonfire’s damage will also increase from the extra Defense.

As a ranged armor unit, Jakob isn’t nearly as reliant on Armor March in order to engage enemies. The debuff from Def Ploy results in a significant damage increase, as it is effectively +5 additional damage per hit - up to +20 damage on a quad strike. Jakob’s good Resistance stat makes him a strong user of Def Ploy; however, his C skill can be replaced as needed to fit the team composition.

The WALL (Defensive Tank)

Build by
Guard Bow+ (+Def)
Alternate: Monstrous Bow+ (+Def)
A Close Counter
Alternate: Svalinn Shield
Swap B Vengeful Fighter 3
Alternate: Wary Fighter 3
Ignis C Atk Ploy 3
IVsSClose Def 3

Show Explanation/Analysis
  • Preferred IV: +ATK or +DEF or +RES / -SPD
  • Weapon: Guard Bow+ (+Def) or (+Res) / Monstrous Bow (+Def) or (+Res)
  • Assist: Swap
  • Special: Ignis / Glacies / Bonfire / Iceberg
  • Passive A: Close Counter / Distant Def / Svalinn Shield
  • Passive B: Vengeful Fighter / Wary Fighter / Guard
  • Passive C: Atk Ploy / Def Ploy / Varies with team
  • Sacred Seal: Close Def / Distant Def / Quick Riposte

As an armored unit with good mixed defenses, Jakob can run a variety of different builds to function as a tank. This set can range anywhere from budget to extremely high investment, with varying degrees of effectiveness.

Guard Bow’s Distant Def effect results in Jakob’s defenses getting exceptionally high against ranged threats. However, his base Monstrous Bow is functional for a tank setup. In either case, the choice of refine is mostly up to preference between +Def or +Res; the main difference is that +Def increases physical bulk and increases Bonfire damage, while +Res increases magical bulk, Iceberg damage, and Jakob’s ability to land Ploys. The choice between Ignis and Glacies (or Bonfire and Iceberg) is just a matter of picking the one that corresponds to which of Jakob’s Defense or Resistance is higher once accounting for all stat bonuses. If running Vengeful Fighter, then the 4 charge Specials (Ignis and Glacies) should be taken, otherwise the 3 charge specials (Bonfire and Iceberg) should be taken.

Close Counter may seem counterintuitive with a Guard Bow, but pairing them with the Close Def seal grants Jakob strong coverage against all types of damage. If preferred, Jakob can elect for Distant Def in his A slot and Sacred Seal, for a total of +18 Defense and Resistance against ranged attacks, making him incredibly resilient against them. Taking Svalinn Shield will prevent Jakob from countering against melee units, but will prevent them from being able to obliterate him with effective damage; this will allow him to tank them for extended periods of time, which can be very useful for protecting other armored teammates. It also has the added benefit of keeping him safe from Micaiah, whose ranged anti-armor tome is otherwise very dangerous.

Vengeful Fighter is a direct upgrade from  Quick Riposte, giving Jakob a larger HP threshold to maintain his ability to double, while also allowing him to run higher damage Specials thanks to the increased Special charge. On a budget, Wary Fighter will make Jakob even tankier by removing enemies’ ability to double him, at the cost of also significantly reducing Jakob’s damage output by also preventing him from doubling. Guard is an alternative option that can be paired with the Quick Riposte seal to deny enemy Specials - this can be a highly potent option when considering enemy armor units that may be running Bold Fighter.

Atk Ploy helps add to Jakob’s defensive capabilities, as debuffing enemies’ Attack will result in lower damage coming his way. Alternatively, Def Ploy will increase the damage output of Jakob and any other physical teammates. Both are good support options that make use of Jakob’s strong Resistance stat, but they can be replaced as needed to suit the team.

For seals, Close Def synergizes well with Close Counter to give Jakob very high defenses against all types of attacks, while Distant Def doubles down on his tankiness against ranged threats. The Quick Riposte seal should really only be considered if running Guard as Jakob’s B skill.

Introduction

Halloween Jakob may have seemed mildly underwhelming on his release, but all that changed when the Bold Fighter nation attacked. He went from being a solid, tanky archer with decent damage when hitting twice with a Brave Bow, to being a ruthless killing machine, unleashing quad strikes backed up by Ignis bombs.

Jakob’s offensive power is so absurdly high with Bold Fighter that most units have extreme difficulty surviving him. He doesn’t even suffer from paper-thin defenses like most units with incredible offenses do; he is easily capable of taking a hit or three, particularly when backed up by armor team buff support.

Halloween Jakob is so insanely strong that all teams should consider their options when facing his offensive Brave Bow + Bold Fighter build. In player control, he can readily wipe out nearly any enemy and be extremely resilient when being attacked. He is a powerful asset to any team, and can easily make up for any flaws he may have.

Strengths

Armored Unit

Jakob has access to powerful, armor-exclusive skills like Bold Fighter and Ward Armor, while also enjoying higher BST compared to other unit types.

Bold Fighter

This skill is so game-changingly powerful on Jakob that it deserves its own section. Thanks to this skill, Jakob has nearly unmatched offensive power that very few units are capable of withstanding.

Strong Mixed Bulk

With 33 Defense and 32 Resistance, Jakob is quite resilient. Having 75 physical and 74 magical bulk make him extremely difficult to KO in a single hit, making it extremely tough to stop him from unleashing a powerful quad strike with Bold Fighter and a Brave Bow.

Versatile

With the exception of Speed, all of Jakob’s stats are good. As a result, he is capable of running a large variety of builds, including a powerful mixed phase setup unique to armored units.

Ranged

While being a ranged unit is not a massive benefit by itself, Jakob’s ranged attacks allow him to circumvent his poor mobility to a certain extent, and reduces the need for him to have Armor March support or to run the Armored Boots seal.

Weaknesses

Low Movement

While being a ranged unit helps alleviate this somewhat, the fact remains that Jakob’s status as an armored unit means he is stuck with the worst mobility in the game. This can be alleviated with Armor March or the Armored Boots seal, but even those are taking up skill/seal slots that could otherwise be used for other skills/seals.

Anti-Armor Weakness

As an armored unit, Jakob has an innate weakness to anti-armor weapons like Armorsmasher and Micaiah’s Thani tome. Circumventing this weakness with Svalinn Shield is a pretty big sacrifice, considering that he could instead run other powerful A skills like Close Counter.

Low Speed

Jakob’s Speed isn’t a complete liability - getting doubled results in more Special charges. However, it does force Jakob to run skills like Bold Fighter or Vengeful Fighter to get around his poor Speed.

Weapon Skills

Weapons SP Rng. Mt.
Iron Bow

Effective against flying units.

Only Inheritable by Bow users.
50 2 4
Steel Bow

Effective against flying units.

Only Inheritable by Bow users.
100 2 6
Monstrous Bow

Effective against fliers.
After combat, bonuses become penalties on all foes within 2 spaces through foe's next action.

Only Inheritable by Bow users.
200 2 8
Monstrous Bow+

Effective against flying foes.
After combat, if unit attacked, bonuses on all foes within 2 spaces of target become penalties through foes' next actions.

Learns by default at 5 ★
Only Inheritable by Bow users.
300 2 12
Weapon Evolution
Weapon Upgrades
Weapon Upgrades

Special Skills

Special Skills SP Turns
Glowing Ember

Boosts damage dealt by 50% of unit's Def.

Learns by default at 5 ★
Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
100 4
Ignis

Boosts damage dealt by 80% of unit's Def.

Unlocks at 5 ★
Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
200 4

Passive Skills

Passive Skills SP Slot
Armored Blow 1

If unit initiates combat, grants Def+2 during combat.

Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
50
A
Bracing Blow 1

If unit initiates combat, grants Def/Res+2 during combat.

Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
120
A
Bracing Blow 2

If unit initiates combat, grants Def/Res+4 during combat.

Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.
Unlocks at 5 ★
240
A
Wary Fighter 1

If unit's HP ≥ 90%, unit and foe cannot make a follow-up attack.

Only inheritable by armor units.
60
B
Wary Fighter 2

If unit's HP ≥ 70%, unit and foe cannot make a follow-up attack.

Only inheritable by armor units.
120
B
Wary Fighter 3

If unit's HP ≥ 50%, unit and foe cannot make a follow-up attack.

Only inheritable by armor units.
Unlocks at 5 ★
240
B

Other Info

Origin
Fire Emblem Fates

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